'Flappy Bird' creator returns with new game announcement

It's been a while since anything has been heard from the creator of “Flappy Bird.” Finally though, Dong Nguyen and .GEARS Studios have broken their silence and announced a brand new game that will be releasing later this week. It’s time to get addicted and frustrated all over again with the release of “Swing Copters” on Aug 21.

"Flappy Bird" goes viral

Back in February, a little game called “Flappy Bird” took the world by storm, blowing up almost overnight in popularity. Thousands of Tweets and Facebook posts seem to take over the social networking sites thanks to players expressing their frustration with the difficulty and inability to put the game down.The immense success, oddly enough, caused the creator to make the decision to remove "Flappy Bird" from the marketplace. Nguyen said he simply “cannot take this anymore” and went ahead with the decision to pull the title from app stores.

Potential legal issues

There were many accusations regarding the art direction of the title, as many of the assets seemed to be “borrowed” from Nintendo’s “Super Mario World.” Although not everything appears to be from the game, a lot of the sprites are clearly similar to those in "Super Mario World," if not possibly directly taken from. In fact, it's downright impossible to look at "Flappy Bird" and not instantly thing "Mario" when familiar with both games. Nguyen defended himself saying it was essentially a tribute to the game, much like the way that musicians often sample other songs that have inspired them.

"I just cannot keep it anymore"

This led many to question if the game was secretly being removed due to copyright from Nintendo. With artwork so strikingly similar and the absurd amount of press the game was receiving, naturally the conclusion would be drawn that someone at Nintendo would see the game and threaten legal action. Nguyen insisted that it had nothing to do with legal implications and he was removing the game for personal reasons. Again, he referenced the strain the publicity was taking on him and insisted that he just “cannot keep it anymore.”

"They are overusing it"

To justify the removal, Nguyen stated that the game was too addictive in nature and he was worried that people were “overusing it.” In an Interview with Rolling Stone, Nguyen elaborated, explaining that he was receiving thousands of messages from people about how the game was destroying their lives. People losing property or even losing their jobs because of the addiction, something Nguyen took to heart. In High school, he struggled with testing because of an addiction to the game “Counter Strike.” That was the moment he realized it had to go. However, this doesn’t mean it won’t be returning. He also revealed that he was working on a new version of “Flappy Bird” which will have warnings and insist players take the occasional break. No word on when that will be releasing.

"Swing Copters" has been announced

Fast forward to Aug 18 when, out of the blue, Nguyen drops a brand new game via Twitter. It’s called “Swing Copters,” and the formula looks very familiar. It’s somewhat of a vertical take on the “Flappy Bird” game, only with an added level of difficulty. TouchArcade received a hands on exclusive with the game and released some video of the gameplay. You play as a little orange character wearing a propeller hat. As the character flies up into the air, he also starts to move in one direction - either to the left or to the right. The player then taps the screen to switch his sweeping flight path in the opposite direction. This is done repeatedly to keep the character wiggling back and forth as he automatically moves upward at the same time. Just like in “Flappy Bird,” players attempt to navigate through an endless series of gates, only now there is a slight twist. To make the already-seemingly-impossible a little harder, Nguyen added swinging hammers below each vertical gate, further blocking the path and increasing the difficulty. Each gate equals one point and the game will use the same medal system as “Flappy Bird.” In fact, the overall presentation is virtually identical… minus the flying fish, that is.

"Swing Copters" release date: Aug 21

“Swing Copters” will release tomorrow, Aug 21, on Android and iOS as a free download. If you can’t stand to wait that long to get another “Flappy Bird” fix, or if vertical flight just isn’t your thing, check out this list of “Flappy Bird” alternatives to find out which ones you should and shouldn’t download.

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Anthony Ortale writes news and reviews on behalf of Examiner.com and as one half of Grinning Moth Productions (@GrinningMoth). He does so much gaming in his spare time, it’s practically a full time job! If you like what you read here, please subscribe to his articles! You can also follow Tony on Twitter (@TonyOrtale), or become a fan on Facebook! If you ever have any questions, comments, or concerns, feel free to email Tony any time at ortale.anthony@gmail.com, he’d love to hear from you! ; He'd love to hear from you!